Lack of Dichotomy
by Individually Packaged
Summary: Ryou had awoken in some strange places before, but never had he woken up in another man's bed, completely naked, and face to face with Malik's alter ego. Yami Marik/Ryou Bakura Deathshipping. Mention of Thiefshipping. Oneshot.


**A/N:** Uh... I don't know how this turned out. It feels kind of OOC to me, but I've just gotten into Deathshipping a few days ago, so I haven't had much time to really absorb their characters. Also it feels kind of fluffy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Warning:** Rated T for swearing and mention of adult themes.

* * *

Ryou Bakura awoke slowly. He smiled into the cotton pillow his face was pressed into, at the feel of something warm and smooth against his back. He felt the warm object breathe in deeply and exhale upon his exposed neck.

At this, Ryou's eyes bolted open. Without moving, he scanned the undecorated, white room. It was familiar. Ryou's heart thudded quickly at the realization that he was in Malik's apartment, in his bedroom, and naked no less. Bakura must have spent the night at Malik's and had obviously not considered the consequence of leaving Ryou to deal with his misdeeds in the morning.

The body behind him shifted. Biting his lip, Ryou turned slowly and found himself face to face with Malik. Or… no, not Malik. The other side of Malik, the spiky-haired Egyptian they called Marik. Fast asleep, Marik had his arms loosely wrapped around Ryou and was snoring slightly.

Ryou turned red. He'd never been in this position before. Bakura had taken over his body to steal and duel and concoct his evil plans to raise Zorc, and Ryou had awoken in some strange places before, but never had he woken up in another man's bed, completely naked, and face to face with Malik's alter ego.

Deciding that the best thing to do is just leave before Marik awoke, Ryou carefully untangled himself from Marik's arms and got up. He looked around the room to find his clothes.

The room was a complete disaster. The sheets were all over the floor, Malik's jewelry was thrown around carelessly, and Bakura's shirt and Malik's pants were hanging off the headboard of the bed. Finally, Ryou found his boxers by the door and slipped into them.

But as he did so, the Millennium Ring around his neck jingled slightly at the movement and upon the noise, Marik shifted in the bed. Ryou froze for a moment, hearing the snoring stop and the bed creak as Marik sat up. Then, Ryou slowly turned.

Marik's hair was even crazier than usual. He glanced about the room, bleary-eyed, and noticed Ryou at the door. At this, his eyes narrowed.

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment, Bakura?" he demanded.

Ryou's mouth went dry. "Uh… it's Ryou, actually."

Marik's eyebrow went up. "What?"

"I'm Ryou. Bakura's the spirit that inhabits my body." Ryou tried not to look at Marik because he was completely uncovered and Ryou thought it would be rude to stare.

Marik considered this. "Huh. I didn't know there was two of you as well."

Then, Marik looked about the room, taking in the sight expressionlessly. There was no emotion in his eyes as he seemed to piece together the events of the previous night.

"I suppose my other half decided to have fun with Bakura in my absence," Marik remarked dryly. "I should have seen this coming, with the way those two kept staring at each other during the Battle City duels."

Not knowing what to say, Ryou turned and walked into the living room, where he found his striped shirt and pants on the couch. He slipped them on and strode into the kitchen. He felt uncomfortable being in Malik's apartment under these circumstances, but decided he couldn't just leave now that Marik had awoken. Something needed to be said, in case this situation arose again.

So Ryou looked through Malik's cupboards until he found several teabags in the corner and placed two mugs of water in the microwave, hoping it wouldn't be terribly rude to go through his kitchen as though he owned it.

Several minutes later, Marik strode into the kitchen, wearing his usual black shirt and combats. He stopped short at the sight of Ryou standing next to the whirring microwave.

"What are you still doing here?" Marik folded his arms, scowling. "I thought I made it clear I didn't want you around."

Ryou glanced at him. "I can't just leave with this situation hanging over our heads. I doubt this will have been a onetime thing."

Marik snorted. "Trust me, I don't intend to let this happen again. I'm disgusted enough with seeing Bakura hanging around Malik on a daily basis. The last thing I needed was to have them fucking and leaving me with Bakura's weakling half in the morning."

Though the comment was insulting, Ryou didn't let it bother him. And though he'd just met this other half of Malik, he found himself quite fascinated with him. He was clearly more malicious than Malik ever hoped to be, but Ryou didn't find himself repelled—he wanted to know more. And he so rarely had the chance to be in his own body, that this might be his only opportunity to interact with another human being for a while. As Ryou turned to attend to the beeping microwave, he felt Marik's eyes on him, as though still taking in the news that he wasn't Bakura.

"I bet this is quite a shock for you, isn't it?" Marik suddenly asked, smirking. "Waking up in another man's bed?"

Ryou looked at him briefly as he placed the teabags in the steaming bags. "Not really. Bakura has left me in stranger places than this. At least this time, I wasn't endangered in any way."

Marik seemed taken aback by Ryou's even tone. "Really? Well, I suppose I didn't expect any better from that rotten spirit around your neck. Why don't you just throw the Ring away if he's such a bother?"

"It's not a bother, really. Besides, he always manages to get it back somehow," Ryou said as he placed several teaspoons of sugar in one mug. Then, he glanced at Marik, teaspoon in hand. "Sugar?"

"What?" Marik asked, startled at the question. Eyeing the two mugs, he said, "No, I don't want any sugar. And I don't want any tea for that matter."

"Suit yourself." Ryou placed the two mugs on the table and sat down at one end. "Make yourself comfortable, Marik. It's your apartment, after all."

Marik seemed surprised at the way his name flowed so smoothly out of Ryou's mouth. He huffed and sat down on the other end, still looking guarded.

"Has this happened to _you_ before?" Ryou asked as he sipped his tea. "Getting up with another man in your bed, I mean."

Marik didn't touch the mug that stood right before him. "No. Malik usually doesn't let his guard down enough to leave me in such odd situations. I suppose he and that spirit are quite involved if Malik let me have control so easily."

Ryou smiled and looked deeply into his mug. "I'm glad for them."

Marik's gaze flickered to Ryou for a moment, as though he was amused at the way Ryou was so accepting of all that had happened. Whether it was his body or not.

"You're nothing like Bakura," Marik finally said. He'd expected Ryou to be similar to the spirit in some way, since they shared the same body. After all, he and Malik at least had some things in common, such as their thirst for revenge. But Ryou was so innocent, so different.

Ryou looked up at the words and locked eyes with Marik. He then sighed, a saddened look on his face.

"It's true. We're nothing alike. And while so many people seem interested in Bakura, I do feel brushed aside sometimes." His expression was wistful for a moment, before he shook his head and smiled again. "But that's no concern of yours, I'm sure, so there's no use telling you."

Marik said nothing. He toyed with the string from the teabag while his mug cooled, unsipped. Ryou brought his own mug to his lips and drank slowly.

"You really suppose this will happen again?" Marik asked after several minutes. "Malik has hardly had any relationships in the past. I'm surprised he even went for that crazy-haired bat to begin with."

Ryou laughed at this. Honestly, _Marik_ was calling someone else crazy-haired?

"What?" Marik asked defensively. "Malik has terrible taste in men, that's all I'm saying."

Ryou's laughter faded but a smile was still at his lips. "I see. So you're a lot more bothered by this situation than you'd first let on."

Marik growled. "I don't give a fuck what Malik and your puffy-haired alter ego do in their spare time. But I'd rather not be a part of it."

Ryou sipped the tea and continued to smile.

"What!" Marik burst out. "Why do you keep smiling so much?"

Ryou lowered his mug and considered Marik's flustered tone. "You're quite interesting, you know. And unbelievably easy to anger."

Marik glowered at Ryou. "Listen, weakling. I'm not him. I'm not Malik. So don't go acting like I'm going to be nice and drink your fucking tea and be entertaining. Too many people have made that mistake and have paid with their lives."

Though his tone was low and threatening, Ryou had nothing to fear. Bakura had given him a backbone toward all things threatening.

"I never said you were Malik. That was my honest opinion of _you_, and not Malik."

Marik continued glaring at Ryou, before finally looking away. Ryou's large, brown eyes were too big and pure for his own good.

"Besides," Ryou continued, removing his teabag from the mug. "I'm glad I'm getting to know Malik's other side. I don't want to be insulting to your host, but… you're a bit more interesting to be around than he is."

At that, Marik dropped all pretense of looking surprised. He gave Ryou a disbelieving look. Ryou just continued to smile at him.

"Now I know you're lying," Marik snorted.

But Ryou stretched his arm across the table and placed his hand on Marik's, staring at him with warm brown eyes.

"I don't lie."

To Ryou's surprise, Marik did nothing to remove Ryou's hand from his own. Instead, Marik absentmindedly grabbed his cooling mug of tea with his other hand and sipped a bit, lost in thought.

After a moment, Marik glanced at Ryou and the corner of his lip curled up.

"I must admit, being around you is only half as bad as being around that spirit of yours." He threw him a glare. "But don't let that go to your head. I still expect you out of the apartment the moment you clean these dishes."

Ryou's smile increased. Sure, if anyone else said it, that would be an insult, but Ryou had the feeling that Marik expressed himself in very few ways, and insult-laced compliments were one of them. And this realization warmed Ryou more than the entire mug of hot tea he'd just drunk.

So the next time he awoke naked in Malik's bedroom, face to face with Marik, he found that he didn't mind it as much as the first time. In fact, he didn't mind it at all.

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**A/N**: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


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